Group 7A (or VIIA) of the periodic table are the halogens: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and astatine (At). The name “halogen” means “salt former”, derived from the Greek words halo- (“salt”) and -gen (“formation”).

fluorine

The halogens are the family of chemical elements that includes fluorine (atomic symbol F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and astatine (At). The halogens make up Group VIIA of the Periodic Table of the elements. They have relatively low melting and boiling points that increase steadily down the group.

What Makes Them Similar? When you look at our descriptions of the elements fluorine and chlorine, you will see that they both have seven electrons in their outer shell. That seven-electron trait applies to all of the halogens. They are all just one electron shy of having full shells.

The elements of Group VIIA (new Group 17 – fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine) are called the halogens (tan column). The term “halogen” means “salt-former” because these elements will readily react with alkali metal and alkaline earth metals to form halide salts.

Some noble gases have been shown capable of forming compounds mainly with fluorine. Argon and helium can not be considered rare as argon makes up about 1% of our atmosphere and helium is the second most abundant element in the known universe….Noble Gases.

In general, heavier elements are rare and light elements are abundant, but there are three big exceptions: lithium, beryllium, and boron. The abundances of the elements in the Universe today, as measured for our Solar System.

Argon

William Ramsay

Discovery and Naming: The first evidence of helium was obtained on August 18th, 1868 by French astronomer Jules Janssen. While in Guntur, India, Janssen observed a solar eclipse through a prism, whereupon he noticed a bright yellow spectral line (at 587.49 nanometers) emanating from the chromosphere of the Sun.

The name is derived from the Greek, ‘helios’ meaning sun, as it was in the sun’s corona that helium was first detected.

Helium can be made solid at room temperature if the pressure rises to about 114 thousand atmospheres: that is a pressure of 1.67 million psi, or 834 tons per square inch.

Although it is rare on Earth, you likely have encountered it in helium-filled balloons. Once the gas leaks into the atmosphere, it is light enough to escape the Earth’s gravitational field so it bleeds off into space, never to return. We may run out of helium within 25–30 years because it’s being consumed so freely.

Liquid helium is critical for cooling cooling infrared detectors, nuclear reactors and the machinery of wind tunnels. The space industry uses it in sensitive satellite equipment and spacecraft, and Nasa uses helium in huge quantities to purge the potentially explosive fuel from its rockets.

Last year, Priceonomics.com reported that the US National Helium Reserve would be depleted by 2020. However, Air Products, a world-leading industrial gas company, just filled its 100th helium ISO container at their Doe Canyon Helium plant.

In the meantime, it’s believed that the planet’s total helium supply is running dry. If our supply ran out, it could spell the end of MRI testing, LCD screens and birthday-party balloons. Or it could make all of those things much more expensive.

If you wanted to invest in helium, the simplest path would be to buy up stock in a helium producer or storage company. A good derivative play would be to invest in clowns.